Overexpression of VIRMA confers vulnerability to breast cancers via the m6A-dependent regulation of unfolded protein response

Virilizer-like m(6)A methyltransferase-associated protein (VIRMA) maintains the stability of the m(6)A writer complex. Although VIRMA is critical for RNA m(6)A deposition, the impact of aberrant VIRMA expression in human diseases remains unclear. We show that VIRMA is amplified and overexpressed in 15-20% of breast cancers. Of the two known VIRMA isoforms, the nuclear-enriched full-length but not the cytoplasmic-localised N-terminal VIRMA promotes m(6)A-dependent breast tumourigenesis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we reveal that VIRMA overexpression upregulates the m(6)A-modified long non-coding RNA, NEAT1, which contributes to breast cancer cell growth. We also show that VIRMA overexpression enriches m(6)A on transcripts that regulate the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway but does not promote their translation to activate the UPR under optimal growth conditions. Under stressful conditions that are often present in tumour microenvironments, VIRMA-overexpressing cells display enhanced UPR and increased susceptibility to death. Our study identifies oncogenic VIRMA overexpression as a vulnerability that may be exploited for cancer therapy.

Automated summary

Virilizer-like m(6)A methyltransferase-associated protein (VIRMA) is critical for RNA m(6)A deposition, but its aberrant expression in human diseases is not well understood. We found that VIRMA is amplified and overexpressed in 15-20% of breast cancers. The nuclear-enriched full-length VIRMA promotes m(6)A-dependent breast tumourigenesis, while the cytoplasmic-localised N-terminal VIRMA does not. VIRMA overexpression upregulates the m(6)A-modified long non-coding RNA NEAT1, contributing to breast cancer cell growth.